Chvrches - Clearest Blue
Etta James - At Last
Jack Garratt - Worry
The Jam - Art School
John Lennon - Imagine
Max Richter - Dream 3
Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better
I have decided to use Tame Impala's song: 'The less I know the better' as I am already familiar with this song and band and feel I will be able to successfully produce an album cover that will work well for the exhibition. I have looked at other album covers as research in preparation for my own cover. One design I looked at was the Beatles cover: Revolver. The illustration and collage by Klaus Voorman creates a psychedelic-like feeling due to the careful line drawing of each band member which detailed features such as every hair. Alongside these illustrations is the use of collage consisting of smaller photographs of the Beatles. This use of mixed media is similar to what's seen in Tam Impala's music video using both film and different illustrative animation. This is something I have taken from my research and would like to experiment with for my design. I will look at how I can use different media within my design to create a more interesting album cover.
I looked at some of my own records alongside the Revolver cover to compare the different designs. Covers such as Bombay Bicycle club's album: 'So long, see you tomorrow' which use different forms of illustration to portray the ideas they wish to express.
Looking at other record sleeves has shown me how a cover can be created using a variety of media. I will look at a number of other covers to see if I can spur any inspiration for my own ideas and design.
I noticed Status Quo's album 'If you cant stand the heat' used a record and record player on the front cover. This link to the product is something I hadn't thought of previously. Creating an idea using a record may successfully show an obvious link to the competition and the song. This album has other interesting features such as an interactive cut out at the bottom right hand corner which symbolises the burning away of the record sleeve. This obvious link to the title shows how I could portray The Less I know The Better if a number of ways to translate its meaning effectively.
The next album cover I looked at was the original cover for this song. The psychedelic theme is seen within the image as seen below. This reoccurring idea is something that I feel I should look at using within my own project as links well to the Band.
I have also looked at Tame impala's music video as I can take influence from the ideas they portray and get an even better understanding of the song. I took screenshots of interesting and important elements of the video that could be used to create initial ideas or drawings that could be used further in the brief.
The beginning of the video shows how the subject first has the girl and then loses her by replacing the main characters head with a basketball and later a gorilla. Despite using what could be seen as provocative footage, I feel it could be an eye-catching image to use for my single design. I also believe this is a turning point in the video where the story changes
The video has a scene using the pouring of paint over a black human silhouette. This links to Tame impalas psychedelic reoccurring theme and is a media I haven't used extensively before and could use to link to the Band and song.
The video mixes different media together as seen in the above image. Here shown using illustration and video. This is again something which can be considered when creating my cover.
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I wanted a range of initial ideas that would use various media as I feel this project will let me experiment with processes that I have previously not used. This will be useful for further development on my course. The 30 ideas I created ranged from being obvious to ambiguous and that I thought could both describe the song and band through image. I wanted each of these designs to be unique so thought carefully before sketching them out. Now I have my ideas, I will present them to my crit group to help me decide on an outcome.
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I asked my crit group a number of questions to help progress my project. These questions were:
Do you think my illustrative line drawings used in a number of my ideas would work? If so should they be create on illustrator or hand drawn?
The group thought the use of hand drawn illustrations would give a more personal feel to my work and create a more natural look design which may work better that the intended computerised vector file I intended to create.
Do you think my ambiguous ideas work best or the most obvious?
The ambiguous designs were seen as being the best as would be more eye-catching and unique that the obvious designs.
Will the use of multiple media in a single design work well or is this technique in my design less appropriate for the brief?
The use of different media was thought to be interesting to use during experimentation but may not be used for my development or final.
Which other ideas do you think I should continue with?
My crit group felt the lightening bolt ideas, painted record and
Further notes on my designs were given. This has helped with ideas for this brief progression. My critique group found that the record idea using paint worked best. And that the use of photography may be appropriate as is a technique used less often in this competition. Simon gave input into my critique, noting that experimenting with different media would work well and could be done in the photography studio so i could take continuously good photographs throughout the process. My critique talked about using unusual media such as powdered paint or nail varnish. These suggestions have given me ideas for my experimentation and development on a number of my original sketches.
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I first created some illustrations of the screenshots that I thought best represented the song as this is one of the original ideas I had for this project. I did this in illustrator, tracing around the original image to see how it could look as a line drawing with clean and straight lines. These work well as the image is represented clearly however some elements look unusual due to the lack of shading within the first design. This however can be altered at a later date when my designs can be improved to better resemble the ideas i want to show.
I experimented with hand drawn illustrations by copying the line drawings I had previously made. These made it simpler to create an accurate portrayal of the original screenshot. I drew out both the basketball and the player, lightning bolt image but found the player holding fur was too recognisable to the video. It's obvious connotation didn't work as well as the more ambiguous basketball idea and have decided to use. For the basketball illustration I experimented with both a fine liner and a darker, thicker marker. These were then scanned in and edited to show the images.
I feel the thicker marker stands out well on the page however the thinner fine liner works better to show detail which I may decide to include later in this project.
Although more distinctive due to stronger, cleaner and more accurate lines, I believe my illustrator drawn illustrations are less unique and personal than my hand drawn. I believe to stand out in this competition this is important and so have decided this is the best media to use for this idea. Because of this I decided to draw another one of my other original thumbnail sketches in this same style.
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I wanted to see how I could progress with the lightening bolt design. After examining various scenes in the video where it's visible I sketched out a small design. Due to the awkward shape of the lightening bolt it was a long process before it became the illustrator made graphic seen below.
I first experimented with doubling the design which worked well to already move away from the original idea.
One thing I noticed when first repeating these designs was that they have an almost psychedelic effect when viewing them due to the repeating designs being so close to each other. These designs have successfully linked image to Tame Impala's song and the ideas they portray.
I used these same designs again but with a black background to see how the lightning bolt can be as eye-catching as possible.
After creating a number of repeating patterns with my design I noticed the similarity to Andy Warhol's work which sees similar prints of the same object duplicated a number of times.
After looking at more of his work I was inspired to experiment with different colours when repeating shapes.
I feel these designs strong and work well for my song. Although obvious they are in consideration for the competition due to their bright colours psychedelic looking patterns. A critique further in this project will help me decide whether they will be used.
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The artist Holton Rower uses the pouring of wet paint over different shaped blank objects to create pieces of artwork that is both complex and unique. The many colours Rower uses is similar to the ideas used within Tame Impala's music video where paint is poured over a human figure. This also continues to portray the reoccurring themes Tame Impala express where the idea of psychedelics and colour is used.
I have decided to experiment with Holton Rower's ideas of pouring paint using objects that directly relate to Tame Impala and The lees I know the better. This is also one of the original ideas I had that conveys psychedelic themes.
These objects include:
a vinyl, to relate to the Secret 7
a basketball, like that seen in the video.
I feel that once this concept has been photographed, it can be used extensively by myself within the project whether it be experimenting further with the inclusion of other ideas and media such as collage and illustration or using the photographs as a final design.
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Fabian Oefner uses high speed photography to capture paint flying through the air. The artwork is colourful yet random. Each photograph is unique as the paint is captured in random ways. This is alike what happened in my first experiments where paint appears to have moved in random ways to create a psychedelic- like pattern.
These photographs show the experimentation I did with paint on a number of objects. At first this didn't work well as the paint i bought was too thick. I used wall paint as this was the easiest to come by and i thought it would work but found that the paint didn't run or drip. These results can be seen below.
My first acrylic experiment was rushed due to low light conditions however I feel this is what caused such unique results. I watered down my paint to make it easier to pour. I then distributed my paint into the centre of the record. Unfortunately, due to using only small tubes of paint I was unable to fill the record with colour just by layering in one place. I therefor moved the record around mixing colours and distorting the natural shapes the paint originally formed. Although regular and consistent patterns were something I hoped for, I feel the irregular experimentations I did work better. As I unsure of what I was doing, my first experiment's paint mixed more than hoped creating a darker looking pattern. This was another thing about my experiments that I feel worked well.
When returning to my experimentation with new, brighter coloured paint, I was able to successfully create a number of colour pallets to use within two more record designs. As I now have a number of designs that portray different emotions and ideas I am able to photograph them to a professional standard so they can be used within my final design.
Unfortunately I was unable to paint my basketball. When first experimenting, I noticed the paint ran directly off and it was hard to keep still. Once I had cleaned it I also realised that the cost of the paint needed for experimentation was also too high.
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The group had opinions on all three designs. They felt my first record was very dark with only a hint of bright orange been seen in the photograph. The second record I create uses predominantly primary colours with additions of other colours to highlight the record making it eye catching. Despite this, the group found my 3rd design that uses a lot of lime green and yellow within the design to be the most appropriate and so should be used within my final design.
This was therefor the next step In my design process. I created a photoshop document of the right size and imported both my illustration and photograph.
Despite this being one of my original ideas, I don't feel the final piece has worked as well as I would have hoped. I think this is mainly due to the mix of two medias within an image. Although this can work well, I feel with better developed ideas I would have had a better result.
I booked a session in the photography studio so my record photos would look as professional as they could. I feel my photographs have turned out well. I must now decide which outcome works best and should be used within this album design.
I feel like these images have come out even better than I would have hoped. Although they do not comply with my original idea using paint and an illustration, I feel like these developed images will be used differently within a final record cover.
My favourite photograph of these records uses the primarily green and yellow design held up to someone's face. This was an experiment I did when in the studio and wasn't planned out however feel like it explores the anonymous nature of the character 'Trevor' whilst also relating to the song's psychedelic ideas in the form of my colourful record.
I want to add type to this image as feel its could better link to my song. As my chosen photograph looks at anonymity I want my type to say TREVOR FOREVER. Despite it having obvious connotations I like its contradiction to the song's lyrics.
I looked at using a san serif typeface, similar to that seen at the start of the song with some differences. My final typographical piece doubles the text, changes its colour and moves it away from the original type creating a 3d like appearance which better suits Tame Impala's ideas, song and my photographs.
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I have looked at adding more elements to my design to better link it with the song title. Such ideas include drawing in the heart in to the illustrative hands as seen in the video. Another idea is to also smash one of my painted vinyls and photograph the results. This will represent the lyrical themes of a broken heart that Tame Impala portray. These experiments were photographed and can be seen below.
Although worthy of an experiment, with a broken record in place it's not clear that it resembles a basketball. Because of this I feel I should use one of the previous photos taken using the complete record.
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I do however like my other ideas. The illustrative lightening bolt and photography using the same painted records shows how good development can influence my work. Because of this I hope to use what I have learnt from this project in the future.
Overall, I feel my final outcome has been successful in conjunction with the brief. I feel I have explored a wide variety of different ideas to help me produce the best outcome possible.
Although none of my designs were picked for the secret 7 exhibition, I feel they have been completed my designs to the best of my ability with my final outcome successfully portraying my own concepts and Tame Impala’s ideas.
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